


A Link to the Past

by AkikoFumi



Series: Links between Times [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Getting Together, M/M, Missing Scene, Post-Captain America: The First Avenger, Pre-Avengers (2012), Steve Rogers Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-14
Updated: 2015-08-14
Packaged: 2018-04-14 17:44:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4573827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AkikoFumi/pseuds/AkikoFumi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It had been only days since Steve Rogers woke up from being frozen in ice for over 70 years. The world changed and not only in the best ways. It was hard to get back, to just start living again. And it was a moment of nostalgia that led Captain America to the Stark tower.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Link to the Past

**Author's Note:**

> So this was entirely inspired by the deleted Scene from "Captain America: The first Avenger" where Steve went through the files of his old team. The entire beginning is more or less an accurate description of said deleted scene, before I took the liberty to spin it further! I do not agree that the battle in Stuttgart in "The Avengers" is the first time Steve and Tony meet - so here is how it COULD HAVE been instead.
> 
> Might get a second part with them ACTUALLY getting together.

Warm sunlight flooded through the windows, illuminated the room in this new apartment and the desk at which Steve sat. The only sound was the distinct noise of the traffic outside – so much louder, so much more intense than he was used to. Many things had changed. Maybe too many. Steve felt a little lost in this new time he had woken up in only days ago, even though he was doing better than he’d thought. But it was hard to focus on the wonders the 21st century had brought when Steve was currently reading the files of his old friends. Of his men.

His Howling Commando.

Even though he had expected it, it still hurt to see a big stamp saying DECEASED over each file. These men had fought with him in war, they’d braved the German attacks, followed him without a second thought. Steve felt his heart hurting with each new name he read, each new DECEASED stamp in angry red over the names of his friends.

Except for one. He frowned as he picked up this file, not really believing that this one was missing the red stamp. Peggy. Steve stared at the page for a long moment, before his eyes shifted to the picture tacked to the corner. She looked as beautiful as he remembered her. As if 70 years hadn’t passed while he had been sleeping. His heart ached for a different reason this time while Steve’s blue eyes shifted over the page and took in the information that Peggy Carter was retired from the military.

Retired, not dead.

An address in Manchester as well as a telephone number caught his attention and Steve briefly glanced over to the telephone. Could he just call her? Let her know that he wasn’t dead? But it had been so long. It was still clear in his mind; the kiss, the crashing plane. How he had told Peggy to wait for him, because she owed him a dance – and then nothing but cold, ice and silence.

Steve had thought he would die there. Everyone had believed he did. He’d seen the articles from back then, read through the many documents that mourned his death. Again, he could hardly process that it had been almost a century since then – when it felt like it had been just yesterday for him. The blond averted his eyes from the phone, back to the page in his hands and decided against calling Peggy. He had no right to do so.

Instead, he placed the file to the side; but the next one coming up wasn’t any better. Steve felt a lump in his throat when he read the name “Howard Stark” and once more this damn stamp heralded of yet another death. He was quick to place it aside, not feeling ready to think too much about his friend, but also a tiny bit curious. There was the addition that Howard had a son and it was his file that came up next. Steve had only heard a few things of “Iron Man”; of the self-made superhero Howard’s son had become. And it weren’t good things. From what Steve knew so far, Anthony Stark was selfish, reckless and too full of himself.

But…. His blue eyes lingered on the picture of the handsome man. He looked so much like Howard, yet so much /not/ like him, it confused the blond a little. Tony was a good-looking guy. And a genius, just like his father. The suit was beyond anything that Steve could have imagined in these times; it was so much like the future he’d read about back then in 1940 and yet so different.

He placed this page too back on the table, one hand coming up to run over his chin as he thought, pondering his options. An idea formed in his mind, partly born from the curiosity of seeing if Tony really was the man the media said he was, and partly the desire to have at least this bit of a contact to his own past. After all, this was _Howard’s son_. Peggy was out of his reach for now, somewhere in England but _Tony_ …

Tony was a link to his past, even when it sounded a little selfish to Steve. But he craved to talk to someone about his friends, about Howard, about Peggy, whatever. And Tony could probably tell him a lot of things about Howard. Steve mused that it perhaps would have benefits for both of them, since he knew that Howard had died when Tony had only been 17. Maybe if they talked to each other, they could help each other to ease the pain of loss.

And this idea was the reason why Steve found himself wandering through the streets of New York not much later.

It still was confusing to be here. Too loud, too bright, too many people. Things had gone from quiet and dirty to big, loud and obnoxious. Steve couldn’t help but to feel out of place as he passed blinking windows with the latest car model, or some new technical device. It would take so much time to catch up with all this.

 

A bit later, Steve had found a nice little café and sat down at one of the tables. From here, he could see the new building, the STARK tower and he couldn’t help the faint smile that crept onto his lips at this obvious display of self-confidence that definitely came from an ego the size of New York. Howard would have loved this, he thought, sketching ahead on the paper in front of him. Steve found some comfort in this. Drawing had always been a welcomed distraction for him and it soothed his nerves a little to drag the pencil over the snowy-white paper, slowly building the skyline he saw. It was a pleasantly warm day and Steve enjoyed how the sun warmed his back even through the brown leather jacket he wore.

His blue eyes darted up to the tower every now and then, correcting another detail on his drawing until suddenly, a blond waitress snapped him out of his thoughts. “Waiting on the big guy?”, she asked, her smile less professional and more friendly, honestly interested. Steve stopped the pencil and looked up, slightly confused. “…Ma’am?”, he asked, the request to explain herself unspoken in his voice. Her smile grew a little and she explained in a few words that he wasn’t the only one waiting here to catch a glimpse at Iron Man.

Steve politely shook his head and pulled some money out of his pocket; unwilling to continue this conversation. She mistook his gesture, tried to get him to say but this really wasn’t his plan. He had only wanted to escape the noisy streets for a minute before heading further to his destination, so Steve counted a few bills on the table, rolled up his drawing and left.

 

The glass door slid open with a faint noise and Steve found himself in a spacious lobby. The logo of Stark industries greeted him on every surface, while the light of the setting sun bathed the clean white walls in a golden orange colour, reflecting off the mirrored doors. It was exactly how Steve had pictured it and he lost himself in thoughts for a moment, wondering if Howard would’ve liked this design. It wasn’t until the pretty woman at the reception desk addressed him and asked what he wanted that the blond soldier snapped out of his memories and gave her a half-hearted smile.

“I just… I was wondering if I could possibly talk to Mr. Stark? Anthony Stark?”, he asked, and leant over the desk a little. The woman’s smile dropped, as if unsure how to handle this kind of a request and nervously fingered the end of her ponytail. “I’m afraid Mr. Stark is not available, but maybe I can leave him a message from you?”

Steve bit the inside of his cheek. He didn’t want to leave a message, so he pressed on. “Um, sorry but, it’d really be important if I could just talk to him for a minute, it’s a… a personal matter?” It came out more as a question than he’d intended, and it definitely didn’t convince the girl. But before the captain could say something else, a voice resounded behind him.

“If it’s a personal matter, then I’d remember you, but I clearly don’t so one of us is lying and it isn’t me so who the fuck are you and what are you doing here?” To say that Steve as surprised by such a rude approach was an understatement and he whipped around, brows furrowing in a frown. A man with dark brown hair and a neatly trimmed goatee stood before him, tapping away on something that resembled the mobile phones Steve had seen, only that it looked far more futuristic. There was no doubt who this man was, but Steve momentarily forgot how to speak, still trying to process this impolite approach.

“I said”, Tony started again, slipping the red-tinted sunglasses down on his nose to look at the other. “Who are you and what’re you doing here?”

Steve forced himself to stay calm and straightened his posture, extending one hand towards the other. “Steven Rogers. Mister Stark?” Tony didn’t move, just eyed the outstretched hand as if it would bite him any moment, then looked back at Steve. There was an amused smirk playing over his lips before he pushed the sunglasses back in place and shrugged. “Yeah, as if. I admit, you don’t look too bad though, almost real… Hey, let me make a test, I’ll get this terrible spangly spandex suit and you try it on and then we’ll see if you’re a good rival for the real Cap, alright?”

Steve felt his brow twitch and he had to resist the urge to reach out and punch Tony. It was almost impressive how much he triggered the captain’s desire to shut him up with a kick, but then again, wasn’t this was the media had told about Tony Stark? So the blond forced himself to remain calm, stuffing his hand back into his pocket.

“I’m afraid I wouldn’t be a good rival for him, Mister Stark. That’d mean to be my own rival.”

They measured each other with looks, their expressions equally steely and unreadable. Then Tony’s brown eyes narrowed the slightest bit and he shrugged. “Alright, whatever. I don’t have time for this shit, there’s a project waiting for me and it’s more important than any of this. So, uh… “Captain”, maybe you should go.” Steve could practically hear the air-quotes for the title and he involuntarily tightened his hand into a fist. It was impressive: they’d barely talked for ten minutes but he was already so pissed off, he wanted to punch something.

The fact that his fist hadn’t landed in Tony’s face yet was only thanks to the fact that he was Howard’s son; and who would Steve be to punch the son of his friend. He opened his mouth, ready to return something when _again_ a voice interrupted him. A pretty woman with strawberry-blonde hair approached them, carrying a stock of documents and her curly ponytail swung in the rhythm of her steps. “Tony, where were you? I have approximately 14578 things we have to discuss and you just disappear! This isn’t how I imagined to work, just- ” She stopped mid-sentence, finally acknowledging Steve’s presence.

For a moment, everything was quiet; then she pressed a hand to her mouth and stared at him with wide eyes. “Oh my God-”

Tony looked at her, then back at Steve, back at the girl and cocked an eyebrow. “Pepper, what the hell-”

“Captain Rogers- It’s really you, isn’t it? I heard the news about how they found you, after all these years, but I couldn’t really believe it! It’s an honour to meet you, my name is Virginia Potts, but please feel free to call me Pepper!”

“Wait, wait, wait”, Tony interrupted. He snatched the glasses off his nose and clipped them to the hem of his shirt, stepping closer to Pepper. “THIS guy REALLY is Captain Rogers? THE Captain Rogers? You are kidding me, Pep, as if I wouldn’t recognize Steve Rogers-” He stopped, turned to Steve and came closer, expression tense and concentrated. “… You REALLY are Captain America?”

This guy was really confusing, the blond thought, because with this strange mix of doubt, childish fascination and subtle admiration Tony looked incredibly endearing. Cute, even-

“Didn’t you just say you would recognize me?”, Steve answered dryly and raised one eyebrow, but there was a faint smile playing over his face. It was hard to stay mad when Tony went from an obnoxious asshole to an excited kid within minutes. The other huffed, actually speechless for a moment before he began rambling like a waterfall. Steve didn’t understand even half of it, but in the end, Tony grabbed his hand and shook it. “Okay, okay, this is kind of amazing, I didn’t think I’d ever get to meet you- Ah, you said it’s a personal matter that brings you here? What is it?”

Steve was still a little confused from this waterfall of words, still busy to make sense out of all the informations Tony had buried him with but Pepper saved him and said: “Tony, how about you discuss this some other time? These documents are really important, they can’t wait. Captain Rogers-”, the turned back to him and handed him a card. “This is my private number, but for all that I know you will rather get me to answer a call than Tony. So, when you have time to spare then I will arrange a meeting for you two.”

“Uh.. sure, yes. Thank you, Miss Potts. Pepper.” Steve returned her smile and secured the card in his breastpocket. He watched how Pepper ushered Tony into the elevator, cutting off his loud complaints with a row of threats and he barely heard Tony calling “I’d be free tomorrow, we HAVE to catch up on this, so I’ll send Happy to get you- Pep, stop shoving me, I’m going, you see!” before the doors closed and he was out of sight.

Steve wasn’t really sure how to handle all this; he felt as if he had just acknowledged a natural disaster and had gotten caught right in the middle of it- Tony was… different than he had thought him to be. Sure, part of the media’s image was right but it seemed that there was _more_ to him than just the things he displayed to journalists. He was a lot like Howard, Steve found – and then again, he wasn’t. But he just didn’t know him well enough to uncover more of Tony’s personality and a tiny voice asked if he even wanted that.

The blond soldier stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jacket, gave a nod to the receptionist and left the building.


End file.
